Legend of Zelda: Horn of Light
by Volvochick
Summary: Ganondorf had been dead for 70 years now, 150 years after killing Princess Zelda. Now the people await for the prohpesized return of the Hero of Light to bring back Hyrule into its prosperity. Rated T for now, might chance to M in the next couple of days.
1. Prologue

**Well, this should be interesting. I've never done a Zelda fanfic before, despite playing the games for the past five years. Should be fun. And yes I know that this is a veeery long prologue, 17 pages and 9,288 words in Microsoft Word, but honestly this is nothing. If anyone had read that Whell of Time series you would know that the tenth books Prologue is 99 pages long! Heck, mines nothing compared to that! And for those wondering, this is my own adventure fic, it is not based off a certain game, although it does include certain elements and objects of most of the games in it. *hint hint***

**If you want to see the full summery, go to my profile. It's listed there.**

**Well, what are you waiting for? Get reading! **

_In __a time of darkness, where hunger and strife ruled the nation of Hyrule, a baby boy was born. This baby grew up in the darkness, training in all forms of combat, learning knowledge of the time, and the hunger for a better world. Deifying the rulers of this time, the young man set out on an adventure to fix the time, with only a sword as his protection._

_The lords of this realm were furious that such as man should commit such treason to his country. With this anger as fuel, they sent out legions of soldiers, man and beast alike, to stop him on his journey. The knights soon met up with the hero at the edge of a wood and engaged in battle. For two days and nights, they fought the fiercest battle men of this age had ever known and would never be seen again. The hero fought against countless scores of men and beasts, leaving hundreds of dead bodies littering the floor, their blood staining the ground. _

_A hero can only last so long though, at the beginning to the third day, fatigue overcame him and he retreated into the wood. The army never followed, they knew of the tales of men who entered this cursed wood and never returned. All around him, the tress were dying from lack of sunlight and the contaminated blood-soaked ground. No matter how gruesome the sight, he continued to march forward, distancing himself from the dark army._

_He continued to walk for a day and night, never stopping for rest. At dawn, he came to a majestic tree, its golden branches bathed in the early morning light. Humbled at the sight, the hero dropped to his knees and bowed to his head to what he was sure was a tree of the goddesses. In the silence around him, the hero heard a voice whisper softly in his ear, commanding him to the tree. _

_Obeying the words of wisdom, he stood on his weary feet and advanced toward the tree. Soon he heard another voice, this one deeper than the first, ordering him to cut off naught but a single branch. Courage filled his body as he raised his gleaming sword above his head, reddened with the blood of his enemies, and brought it down in a wide arc, slicing off one of the golden branches. He watched in utter amazement as the wood hit the ground, no longer a branch but a horn burnished with golden trim and emerald leaves encircling the bell. _

_Again another voice was heard, a voice filled with power as he received instructions. Once the voice quieted, a sense of refreshment encompassed his entire form, erasing his bone-deep fatigue. Filled with hope of what the voices had promised, the hero knelt foreword and reverently picked up the horn, the enchanted wood cool to his touch. Silently, he left the mystical tree behind and walked toward the battlefield he had only hours ago escaped from. _

_By the time he reached the edge of the dead wood, a thick sheet of rain had begun to fall, cleaning the blood-drenched ground of the horrors committed. All around, the cries of the corrupted soldiers never reached his ears, so intent was he on completing the mission set by the holiest of voices. Soon, he was surrounded, swords points aimed at every part of his rain soaked body. Still, even in threat to his life such as this, he never raised his sword, instead holding the glowing horn high so that all those around could see its golden sheen, he placed it to his lips. Around him, the soldiers stiffened, afraid of what evil magic this horn might possess. _

_And lo and behold, the hero blew, letting loose such a magnificent sound that to the men there, even on their death beds, the resounding call still rang clearly in their ears. Immediately, both man and beast felt humbled at such a call and never moved as he continued to blow. As the hero blew a second, a third, a fourth time, the clouds ahead broke and let forth a stream of sunshine. The soldiers stood awed, such a sight had not been seen in many generations. Slowly, the rain began to lessen and they watched astounded at the trees they had thought dead come to life in front of them. They watched the tree straighten its boughs and green buds appear on the once black branches. _

_One young soldier stood shaking, scared of the unnatural events taking place around him. Whether this perpetrator was man or beast, none can recall, but just before the hero could let loose a fifth call upon the horn, the soldier raised his sword and thrust it into the hero. The final call died on his lip as he forward, dead before he hit the ground, the golden horn rolling out of his now dead grasp and onto the dead grass. Then, a flash of blinding light! From where the horn lay, now stood three tall goddesses, their regal beauty causing the men and beast to fall to their knees in reverence, and at Farore's words, to bow their head in shame._

"_You dare to kill a messenger of the goddesses? We lead this man to the middle of the cursed wood to Golden Tree, where we instructed him to cut off a piece of the sacred branches to allow him to wield this horn. This horn was to bring the light back to this shadow covered place and install hope into your lives once again. Now, you have only allowed us to even the battle between light and shadow, not to fully overcome it as was our plan to bring peace back to Hyrule. Sister, retrieve the horn so we may possibly undo this folly."_

_Unconsciously, the men's backs straightened. They were going to be given another chance to blow the horn, but who was to be worthy enough of such an honor? Expectantly, they watched Nayru with watchful eyes, waiting to see who of them would be given the horn. Confused they watched as she placed the burnished horn atop a small rock at Din's feet. In horror they witnessed the goddess of power raise her fire blazoned sword and brought it down onto the horn. _

_The soldiers watched amazed as the horn split into five pieces with a powerful flash. Without a word, each of the three goddesses lifted a piece off the ground with a carefulness that is reserved when holding a child. Silently, the then placed them in a small silver box held by a young girl dressed only in white. All the soldiers knelt frozen in a stunned silence at the events taking place in front of them, jumping when the smooth voice of Nayru spoke to them._

"_Despite your gravest of errors, my sisters and I will take naught but four of the five fragments of the Horn of Light and hide them across the four corners of Hyrule. The last will be given to you to hold until a later time, when the prophecy will finally be fulfilled."_

_With these final words, the small girl walked forward and grabbed one of the two halves of the horn left on the ground. Gingerly, she placed it into the small silver box and sealed it, leaving only a single piece of the gold and emerald horn behind. _

_Once again, a flash of heavenly light then descended onto the goddesses and their young retainer. Before they could leave this world and return to their own, Din's powerful voice rang through the ears of the men and beasts. "Remember, when a time of darkness once again falls across the kingdom, the Hero of Light will be reborn again. He will complete what this hero could not and finally bring light to the land again. This I say is true. This, is the Prophecy of Light!"_

_With a final flash, the men closed their eyes, else they be blinded by the goddesses true forms. When they reopened their eyes to the new world of light, they noticed that the body of the hero had disappeared with the goddesses as well, all that was left was the final piece of the horn, still shining as brightly as ever in the new morning sun. From there, word was sent across the land, to every corner of Hyrule, of the heavenly encounter and…_

With a sigh, Princess Zelda, the esteemed ruler of Hyrule, rubbed her blue eyes tiredly as she stared back at the books flowing black script. For months now, ever since Link's departure to see the rest of the world, she had been searching all sorts of history books to try and the possible locations for the missing halves of the Horn of Light. Since then, she had been majorly unsuccessful.

Her left hand's thumb and index finger currently fiddled with the edge of a pages top corner while she picked up the quill and held it over a clean piece of paper, a piece that had been empty for a week now. The book she had been studying was one of millions like it. It was actually a small section in a series of fairy tales told to small children, but unlike them, she knew it wasn't a myth but in all actuality true fact. Although there had been small parts added to make the story more magical for minds of the young children reading the tale, it had all the major facts. The reason she believed in legend with all her heart though was simple enough, she actually owned one of the pieces of the Horn, the piece that had been left for her people to watch over for the goddesses. It was this reason that she had started to look for clues to the others locations. Zelda didn't know why, but she had the ominous feeling that the foretold "time of darkness" would indeed come again, and sooner than she hoped. She was just lucky she actually at least one fragment of the Horn.

_My sisters and I will take naught but four of the five fragments of the Horn of Light and hide them across the four corners of Hyrule. _Zelda had a fairly good idea where they most likely were located but she still had yet to discover their precise locations. _The last will be given to you to hold until a later time._ Thankfully, she at least knew where that was; it was actually right next to her sitting on the dark redwood desk, parts of the burnished gold still shining in the setting sun's rays.

The Horn piece Zelda owned was a small section of the bell, the once bright emerald leaves chipped with age and almost invisible against its oaken wood. The gold had faded away to almost nothing, although some still did remain, shining with what she guessed was as bright as the day it was first blown. The section though had been passed through generations of her family, going farther back than she could even remember how her family had ever actually managed to get hold of the Horn she did not know.

Groaning once again in frustration, she leaned back in her chair and gingerly rubbed the bridge of her nose. Turning to look out the window, she noticed that large fat flakes had begun to fall despite the shining sun's rays. It had obviously started to snow, and recently to at that, the sky had been clear when she had started her research only a couple of hours ago.

Standing up from her desk, the princess walked over to the warmly glowing hearth to warm up. Her eyes watched the flames dance gracefully across the logs, odd shapes she couldn't even begin to understand appearing in the flames. The fire itself seemed to send a light into the new twilight, sending the darkness back and casting long shadows on the castles stone walls. _When a time of darkness once again falls across the kingdom, the Hero of Light will be reborn again_.

The crash of her door being slammed open disrupted her thoughts as she turned angrily to yell at the intruder.

"What in the goddesses names do you…," the words she had been planning to say were forgotten when she took in the intruders form. He was wearing a full suit of armor with the golden Hylian crest shining on his breast plate. His cape flowing behind him was an empty white, not yet colored with the achievements he would soon be later awarded. A fairly new recruit, but it wasn't his clothing that stopped her mouth, it was the pasty white complexion of his face, complete and absolute terror pasted upon it.

"I-I'm terribly sorry for the interruption your grace but you have to come with me, th-there's no time to explain!"  
______________________________________________________________________________

From atop the castle's western tower, Zelda watched with wide eyes at the army that was quickly over taking the hills and about to enter the town surrounding the castle.

"General Falier, why in the goddesses name was I not alerted of this earlier?"

The commanding tone in the princess' voice was as obvious as the snow gathering on her fur-lined cloak. From underneath her scrutinizing gaze, the general it was directed to grimaced but did not look away.

"We were just alerted of their presence ourselves just a few minutes ago majesty."

"Then how could you not manage to see them until now? They're at most a mile from the town!"

"They seemed to be using the passing blizzard for cover. It had been blowing for a few hours earlier and has only just began to let up."

Zelda shivered and brought the warm cloak closer to her body, the mention of the blizzard only reminding her of how cold it really was. She realized now though that there really was nothing Falier could have done, he couldn't control the weather after all.

She glanced another look at the advancing army, the general still evident out of the corner of her eye though. He was an older, heavy set man, the lack of battles and indulgence of foods taking an obvious toll on his body. Yet, no matter the amount of weight he gained, the fat would never make the numerous scars decorating his body disappear. He had seen many battles if the various stripes of red, blue, and green were any indication. Red for the power he had held when leading his troops into battle and emerging victorious, blue for the wisdom shown in the strategies and tactics used in the battles fought, and finally green, for the courage exhibited when acting in the face of danger and fear to save another, or to take the most dangerous tasks when needed. Although not the most attractive general or soldier in the castle guard, he was by far her most trusted and well-decorated.

"General Falier?"

If Zelda had expected him to jump or show any form of surprise at the unexpected question, she did not show it when he calmly turned his head towards her, the snowflakes atop his helmet not even disturbed by the movement. "Yes my princess?"

"What exactly is the advancing army made up of?"

"Evil beasts my lady. Darknuts, Dinolfos', ReDeads, Stafos', Moblins, Iron Knuckles, and others. There is such a large army that even my best scouts can't even begin to count the numbers, lest the different species. It is obviously an army sent by the King of Evil himself, Ganondorf."

Zelda couldn't help it; she sensed a spark run through her, quickly filling her body with fear. It took most of her will power not to show it to the soldiers on the roof, she had to hide her shaking hands in her own cloak, hoping that everyone mistook her involuntary shudder as one of cold, not of fear. She had governed her people before, Zelda knew not to show your comrades fear, if they knew that you felt it, then they too would feel fear's cold clutches and lose heart in battle. Even if she did manage a firm hold on the shakiness of her hands, she still needed to take a deep breath, lest the shakiness of her voice give her away.

"How long do you think until they storm the castle?"

Falier ran his hand across his helmet, brushing the snowflakes that lay atop to the pure white ground, soon to be tainted with blood, before answering. "Thirty minutes at most Princess Zelda. There is no time to assemble a proper force; we will have to make do with what we have on hand."

Zelda watched the man rub his stubble in though, noticing that the lack of battle had made the man lazy, hence the belly that had not been there a year before. Age had also taken its toll on the man, what little hair the man had left was almost all white.

"I suppose we will have to. Assemble the guard; I will return to my chambers, I have some final arrangements to attend to."

With a flurry of flakes falling from her cloak, Zelda turned to back inside the castle but stopped when a hand firmly grasped her arm. Shocked, she turned to stare at the general's rather abrasive movement, delicate eyebrows raised in surprise. Just as abruptly as he had grabbed though, he let it go just as quick. He even looked stunned at his actions but hid it so quickly she wasn't even sure that it was ever there.

"I'm sorry Princess Zelda, but everyone here knows of your lineage and how favored your family has been by the goddesses. So you see, the men were hoping you could pray and win some goodwill from Nayru to hopefully win this battle."

Despite the situation, Zelda couldn't help but smile wryly under the shadow of her hood. In spite of the views of the soldiers, she wouldn't exactly call her stance with the goddesses as being favoured. The horrors her grandmother had gone through for being the holder of the sacred Triforce of Wisdom wasn't what she would call a blessing by any means. Still though, she could not deny Falier's wish, he had not experienced what those generations ago had.

"I will try my best," she promised, "but, you have to remember that Din favors Ganondorf as well. I make no promises that this will work, this might be the will of the goddesses after all."

Zelda walked with more confidence than she felt to the towers edge, looking down unto the army she could now see clearly. Despite knowing full well that she would not be able to stop a single attack by a Wizzrobes or a Moblin's arrow, she still clasped her hands and bowed her head. Before she could even start the prayer, she felt a wind blow around her, pushing her hood back from her head and letting her dress flap around her ankles. If it wasn't for the golden clasp that held her cloak together, it would have blown right off her. Ignoring, the wind, she began her prayer.

"Goddess of Wisdom, of Time, of Law, and of Water. Without your watch over Time, the legendary hero would have not been able to defeat Ganon, without your gift of Water, we and our crops would perish of thirst, without Wisdom we would not be where we are now, and without Law, we would not be here now. Oh Nayru, most wise of the goddesses, lend us your aid in this battle so we may triumph against the evil forces that now threaten to destroy your people. Give us this aid, so your people may live longer.

"With Wisdom you guide us, with Law you give judgment and life, with Water we prosper, and with Time we age and grow wiser in your ways. Nayru, may you ever guide us."

_And please, _she thought quietly. _Send Link home soon._

From around her the wind that had blown settled to naught but a slight breeze. Drawing the hood once again on her head, she stepped towards the general and his men, whom stood star struck at the phenomenal sight. Slowly, she walked past, stopping only to lay a hand on Falier's shoulder. Even though she spoke in but a whisper, the silence carried her voice so that all could hear her.

"I have done all I can General Falier, the rest I fear, is up to you."

With those words, she departed the tower and entered her castle.  
______________________________________________________________________________

The study's large doors slammed open as Zelda entered the room, her once peach complexion now a pasty white. With carelessness her teachers would have been shocked to witness; she flung her snow covered cloak to the floor, too many thoughts running through her head to realize what she had done.

It had been almost eighty years since Ganondorf had last attacked the castle, the last time had been when the Hero of Time had saved her great-grandmother, a story which had been told to her and Link often as a child. Now, here he was again, making yet another attack to try and claim the kingdom. She couldn't understand how though, her grandmother had told her how Link had killed Ganondorf, so he couldn't possibly be alive, and even if he was, he had to be over a hundred years old, in no condition to stage an attack.

_And it's just my luck. _Zelda thought bitterly. _Even if Ganon had somehow managed to find the fountain of youth, Link's off on an adventure in another kingdom somewhere else. He isn't even here to help us._

Of course, she couldn't be sure if he was the real wielder of the Triforce of Courage or not but she had grown up with the boy and was an expert at using the sword and archery. He was the closest thing the kingdom had right now to a hero.

Suddenly cold, Zelda turned to see if the fire was still blazing only to see that it was. It just didn't seem to be sending off any heat towards her. The sun had almost completely set by now so the only light in the room was the hearth, sending a cascade of red and yellow light across the room. To Zelda's amazement though, despite the fire's dim light, the Horn of Light half still sparkled. With a shock she realized that if Ganon knew about the Prophecy of Light and found it, he would surely do all that was in his power to destroy it.

With clammy hands, Zelda grasped the horn and looked around for a place to hide it. She had no secret compartments in the room or anything to hide it in, and no matter how many times she peered across the room, her eyes kept locking onto the fireplace.

The fire's flames reflected off the princess' once clear blue eyes, now cloudy with worry. The fire would be the perfect hiding spot but would the fire burn it? All the stories she had read sometimes mentioned that Din's sword was of fire when it struck the horn, others that fire decorated the hilt. If she had had a few more hours she could have safely deduced a proper conclusion but she didn't have hours, she had but minutes. So, with a prayer to the goddesses, Zelda flung the sacred fragment into the fires red hot coals, praying that it would not burn.

A loud crash turned her eyes to the door as it was flung open, letting two hideous blue skinned Moblins enter the room, their sharp yellow teeth glinting in the fire's light. Their dark steel swords were stained with blood, most likely those of her loyal soldiers. Their soulless yellow eyes stared into hers, sending shivers down her spine.

Trying hard to portray the image of a fearless princess, Zelda straightened under their unwavering gaze, fully conscious of her shaking knees. "You dare enter the Castle of Hyrule, where beings such as yourself have no place in these halls? I, the Princess of this realm, order you to leave at once!"

Her defiant stare began to waver though when they began to laugh at her and speak to one another in a series of grunts and hisses. The one on the right started to stare hungrily at her, as though eyeing a large pig or a pile of rupees. Fear clouding her judgement, Zelda rose her hands and cast a spell. Din's Fire began to envelop the Moblin, sending him blazing as he fell to the floor, screeching in pain as he tried futilely to put out the magic flames.

The other Moblin turned towards her, angry at the princess for killing his brother. Raising his sword, he moved to cut her down, only to be cut down himself. Behind the now dead creatures, one a still burning husk the other a bloody corpse, stood Falier, his sword hanging over their bodies, a mixture of blood covering his armor, effectively hiding the golden eagle from view. He had only a cut on his forehead, continually sending a steady stream of blood into his left eye. He hurriedly wiped his eye clear, staring at his hand as if shocked to see blood. Shrugging, he took and already bloody handkerchief from his pocket and wiped both the red blood from his hand and the green blood from his sword clean. As clean as they could get though, the once white blade smeared with blood. Placing the sword in its scabbard, he turned to Zelda.

"Are you alright Princess?"

Now even more white faced than when she entered the room, her skin was almost transparent know, she nodded. "Yes, thank you Falier and… look out behind you!"

Quicker than anything Zelda had ever seen, Falier had turned to face his assailant, sword already free of it scabbard. Before he could do so much as block though, the man's golden blade decapitated Falier's head from his neck. Blood poured from the neck, staining his once three-colored cape a single red, the color of the power that had killed him. From above his headless body, Ganondorf, the King of Darkness himself, grinned maliciously at the kill.

"Nightey night, fool."

Zelda had watched this entire scene before her eyes with horror, bile rising in her throat, and cast her eyes downward only to stare into the empty brown eyes of her general's head that had rolled to her feet. The little color that was left had left her face, her body shaking uncontrollably. From beneath her, she felt her knees buckle and started to fall.

"Catch her you fools! Don't let her fall to the floor!"

Before she could reach the cold stone floor, she felt someone, or something, grab her arms. Scared, she turned to stare into the helmets of the two Darknuts that had caught her.

"Put the Princess into her chambers. And do not let a single piece of harm come to her delicate body. I have… _special_ plans for her," he ordered with a sneer.

With a stiff backed nod to their leader, they yanked Zelda to her feet and dragged out the hall. Before leaving the room, she gave one last look back and stared into the malevolent eyes of the King of Evil, the smile on his face paralyzing her heart in fear.

_Oh Link, please return home soon. You have no idea how much we need you, how much I need you. _

With that last desperate thought, the last hour's terror finally reached her and she fell into unconsciousness. Fainting into the arms of her captors, they dragged the Princess Zelda done the silent hallway.

* * *

It had been three weeks since the invasion of Hyrule castle, three weeks since Ganondorf overthrew the throne for himself. The town surrounding the castle was mostly untouched, save but the Southern quarter, the direction in which Ganon had attacked from lay in ruins. The people that had survived the onslaught were left homeless and forced to move to the Eastern section. Overcrowded before, the area was now fit to burst with the population increase. The common people were left in the dark, not knowing why the town had been attacked or if the Princess Zelda, the last of the royal family, was still alive.

For now, she was.

In this space of time, Zelda had been shut up in her room, only been let out in the morning and evenings to use the latrines. Food was brought to her by either a servant or one of Ganondorf's minions three times daily. The food or drink his beasts brought she refused to touch, the grin she received when they laid it before her often made her think it was poisoned. She knew that this was faulty logic, the food her own servants brought could have been just as poisoned, but nonetheless, she felt safer when her own brought it to her. About half-an-hour later, someone would return for the plate and leave a pitcher of water in its place. In the evenings two servants would bring up hot water and a maid would help to undress her for her bath. Life was almost the exact same as before Ganondorf took over.

_Except for the fact of course, that I'm nothing but a prisoner in my own room, the locked windows and doors are but my bars, _she thought sourly.

Aside from the occasional mishap, like when a couple of guards stationed outside her door got in a fight over a pretty maid that walked by, everything was normal. Despite being trapped like a mouse, she was living the life of luxury while her people outside were cramped and starving, a thought that always continued to pass through her mind daily. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing she could about it, the one thing that infuriated her to no end.

Although the daily events were all that was left of the order that had previously been in her life, it was decidedly boring. There was little to do of amusement in her room. She had a few papers tucked away that detailed the import of grain from Labrynna and the production of silks from Holodrum, but they were very tiring to read. In fact, the only reason they were in her room at all was because they helped to put her to sleep at night. There were very little interesting books in her room; it had gone to the point where she had actually gotten only her most trusted servants to smuggle in some books from the castle library for her. When reading though, her thoughts often drifted to the Horn fragment she had thrown into the fire. Zelda would dare not ask for someone to check on it though; even the most loyal of servants would release confidential information to escape torture. It was after all, one thing to smuggle in books and another to investigate an important piece to the Prophecy of Light.

On the 22nd day of imprisonment, Zelda had expected the day to be like the last three weeks, sitting in her room bored out of her mind. Breakfast had already come, a bowl of oatmeal with fresh raspberries and toast, and was currently reading in an armchair by the widow, waiting for the empty tray to be taken away. A knock at the door alerted her and she hurriedly hid the book under the seat cushion, she wasn't supposed to have it after all. With porcelain hands she smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress as best she could and brushed a couple of stray hairs behind her ears. Another knock sounded this one more impatient and louder than the first.

"Yes?" Zelda tried to hide the annoyance in her voice, she had just found something important containing the Horn of Light.

"It's the King; he wishes to speak to you."

Confused, Zelda furrowed her eyebrows. Her father, the previous King of Hyrule, had been dead for ten years now. _What in Farore's name is that guard talking about?_

"Tell him I am busy at the moment and will speak to him later."

"King Ganondorf wants to speak to you now. He does not wait for spoiled brats like you to see him."

Zelda bristled under his words. _I am not a spoiled brat! _She thought angrily. _But Ganondorf, king? What is that man blabbing on about?_

"Send him in then."

With an air of importance, an air Zelda wished to blow out; he swept into her room, the golden crown of Hyrule resting atop his red hair. Ganon's smile was broad, as if trying to display a sense of welcoming, but his eyes were cold, staring at her with disdain.

"Ah, and here is our most esteemed guest! I do hope you have been most comfortable?" When Zelda didn't answer right away he continued unfazed, although she was pleased to note that his smile did falter for a moment. "I hope you will be glad to hear that I plan on releasing you from your solitary confinement in your room."

"…I see. Thank you," Zelda replied coldly. She was glad not doubt about that, but she wasn't about to let Ganondorf know that.

"I assume you wish to know why I am releasing you like this. Well, I need you to appear in front of the people in a uhh… _ceremony_ of sorts."

"I see. I will be sure to dress accordingly then," breathing deeply; she spoke through her teeth with great difficulty. "I-I thank you deeply for you generosity King Ganondorf."

Smiling as though he was the cat who got the cream, he spoke smoothly. "Anything for the former Princess of Hyrule."

A knock at the door interrupted any other words that might be said.

"Just one moment please. I'll be there soon," Zelda called out to the door, never taking her eyes off Ganon's face. Abruptly, startling her, he waved his hand and walked to the door.

"There is no need dear Princess. I was just about to leave anyways."

Shortly after his words, the door opened slowly and Mira entered cautiously. Her head was bowed meekly, a curtain of blonde hair effectively hiding her face from view. With a start, she seemed to just realize that Ganon was in the room and gave one of the shakiest curtsies Zelda had ever seen, she was surprised that Mira hadn't fallen over yet. With barely even a glance towards the maid though, he walked out room, sunlight glinting off the crown on his head and his dark red cape trailing behind him. Watching him leave her room in such contempt, she felt the compulsion to just run up and rip her father's crown off of Ganondorf's greasy head .The guard at her door bowed deeply towards his new king and sent Zelda a self-satisfied smirk before shutting and locking her door.

Suddenly exhausted, she sank into the arm-chair, she hadn't realized that such a short conversation could be so draining, or so long. Wincing in pain, Zelda suck her hand under the seat cushion and pulled out the book she had hidden there what felt like years ago. _The Light in Us All_ had by far been the best book, what she had taken as deep, long winded religious book on the spiritual nature of the goddesses, it instead detailed the events that had occurred shortly before and after the hero's death. Published by an anonymous author, it had even listed the possible locations for the Horn's fragments and who the unknown hero most likely was. Instead of returning to her research though, she only fingered the books course brown front and placed it reluctantly on the table next to the chair, eager to return to her reading.

Hiding her disappointment, Zelda rose and faced Mira, whose curtain of hair still continued to hide her pale face. Portraying calmness she certainly didn't feel, she gave Mira a small smile in a weak effort to cheer her up, or, at least, prove that Ganondorf's visit hadn't bothered her. Despite it all, Mira seemed to shrink down even more and adverted her hidden eyes from the princess' as though ashamed. Ashamed for what though, Zelda didn't know.

Zelda herself felt a small part of her will crumble a little at the small movement but shook it off and moved towards her closet.

"Well Mira, we should go and decide exactly what I should wear to the ceremony later. What do you think about this one? Or maybe red? What do you…?"

"Excuse me you highness?" Mira squeaked.

To say Zelda was surprised at the interruption was almost an understatement. In all her years of working for the castle, Mira was not well known as one to interrupt when someone was speaking, much less someone of royal blood like herself. She was one of the quietest and meekest maids Zelda had ever had, if not _the_ meekest and quietest. Despite the appalled motion that Mira gave when she realized her actions, Zelda waved her on to continue.

"I-I-I am so sorry Princess Zelda for interrupting you, but you see King Ganon has already sent me with a dress for you. He requires that you were it for the ceremony this evening."

It was then that Zelda noticed the neatly folded fabric in her servant's hands. Taking from Mira confused, the fabric unfolded itself as it unveiled a pure white dress, decorated with only lace and pearls.

Frantic, she turned to Mira. "Did Ganondorf leave you with any instructions with what the dress was to be used for? If he has, I demand that you tell me this instant!"

Zelda watched Mira shrink up against the wall before squeaking out, "N-n-no, he hasn't. He has only told me that the dress is needed in tonight's ceremonies."

Suddenly fearful, Zelda glanced down at the pure white silk. _Does Ganon intend to marry me to secure the throne? _With a start she realized that she had sunk down unto her bed at Mira's words, her fists clenching the fine silk tightly.

Without a word Zelda stood up from the bed, thrust Mira the white dress, and walked towards her bedside table. Opening the top drawer, she frantically rummaged through its contents. Smiling slightly in triumph, she let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding in the first place. Slowly, she turned back to Mira, the dress now draped carefully over her arm and her head still bent down; deciding that whatever the princess had been looking for must be private.

"Mira, I have an important job for you."

Cautiously, Mira looked up a bit, fiddling with the silken dress nervously.

"Wh-whatever it is, it shall be done my lady."

Deep in thought, Zelda nodded, the newly found object still hidden in her hands. "I see. Tell me, are you currently seeing someone outside the castle?"

"Of course not! I-it is illegal for servants to court while in service to the castle." Mira head had almost straightened at Zelda's question and her fingers began to fiddle with the dress even faster. In an effort to calm the maid down, Zelda smiled warmly.

"There is no need to worry," she reassured. "I only want an answer; you will not be punished for your reply."

"…yes."

"Would you be able to stay with him in the event that you were ever evicted from service?"

"I-uh-suppose so…"

At Mira's answer, Zelda gave her first true smile in weeks. "Good. Now Mira, you must not tell anyone about what I am to ask of you."

"Of course Princess Zelda, what is it that you wish of me?"

"During tonight's ceremony, I want you to escape from the castle. Knowing Ganondorf, there will be no one situated in the castle so there will be no witnesses to your escape and no one to stop you. No one will even realize that you had left. When you leave, I want you to take this with you."

At Zelda's outrageous task, Mira looked up so quickly that you could actually see her deep green set eyes. This was nothing though compared to her reaction when she unwrapped the soft black fabric passed to her. In total shock, the dress that had lain across her arm fell to a heap on the floor when her arms fell to her sides.

"I-I am honored that you have entrusted me with so important a task but I cannot possibly do what you have asked of me. And to take such a royal object from you, it has been passed through your family for generations! Since-since Nayru, the great Goddess of Wisdom herself entrusted it to your family."

Her hands shaking, she moved to return the royal heirloom back to Zelda who shook her head firmly and rewrapped Mira's fingers around it before pushing it so that Mira held it to her heart. "No. You have promised me that you are to fulfill this deed and you must. I fear that this ceremony isn't what is expected and if I die tonight, I want you to tell you children about the greatness that was the Royal Family of Hyrule. I am sure that Ganon will falsely accuse my lineage of betrayal and I want someone to overcome these falsehoods.

"Now, I am in need to be prepared for tonight's events. Come Mira."  
______________________________________________________________________________

Ganondorf stared out the large window, the panes of glass covered in snow. The midday sun was slowly setting over the horizon as it approached the hour of the ceremony, the hour Ganondorf had waited his whole life for. The many Wizzrobes Ganon had brought were working hard to keep the snow at bay. _It wouldn't do to have it snow tonight; I want everyone to witness this memorable event._

As one would expect of the Lord of Darkness, sundown and night had always been his favorite time of the day. The setting sun always let forth a stream of brilliant bloody reds and the night brought an army of stars to chase away the cowardly sun. The moon would then strike fear and darkness into the people, two qualities he loved dearly. Ganon's attentions towards the blood red sun were interrupted by a knock at the door though.

"What do you want? I'm busy in here!"

A muffled reply was heard through the thick wooden door that Ganon had to strain to hear. "I have news of the princess your majesty."

"Fine, enter then, but be quick about it! My patience has been tried this last couple of weeks."

Ganon growled under his breath, he was tired of receiving boring news like his every hour and his earlier conversation with the brat hadn't put him in good spirits.

The door opened to announce a Hyrulian soldier, he had traded in his once polished, gleaming silver armor for the black he know wore with pride. After falling to his knees in a respectful bow, he rose to his feet, his spiked helmet held carefully under his arm, not even a quiver in his stance. Ganondorf was surprised to note that he actually recognized him as one of the first soldiers to trade in his previous armor for the ones he wore know, and the only one eager to do so. He was also the soldier who had stood guard outside Zelda's door. He was also pleased to notice that his nose had an awkward bend to it, it had obviously been broken before, and it showed that the man was no stranger to hand-to-hand combat.

"Well, what are waiting for? Speak!"

The soldier gave an honorary salute before speaking. "The prisoner, former Princess of Hyrule, is ready King Ganondorf. She is now waiting for the ceremony to start."

"Good, good, you may leave soldier. I will be along shortly enough," Ganon commented as he impatiently waved him out.

Bowing as deep as the black armor would allow him, the soldier advance toward the door. Satisfied that all was going according to plan, Ganon turned and realized that the fire in the hearth had yet to be put out, it was still burning strongly, lessening the darkness that he so loved.

"Wait."

Obediently, the young soldier turned back, face still as impassive as ever.

"What is your name boy?"

Face unmoving, he replied curtly, "Bael, sir."

"Bael? No surname?"

"No my king, they are nothing but a way for the royals to categorize us with the masses. I left it behind when I joined the guard so I may not be classed by name, but by skill."

"You are wise to think that, but I did not call you back to tell me such. I called you back so you could extinguish this fire for me."

"Of course highness."

As Bael moved towards the fire, he said over his back, "Oh, and thank you my lord for removing the royal family from rule, if you hadn't done so then I would have."

Although Ganon didn't reply, he smiled as he placed the King of Hyrule's crown upon his head. He was not surprised to see that it fit perfectly.

_I am the true King of Hyrule after all, _he thought smugly. _The former was but a weakling who bent to every peasants whim, the illness that killed him is but proof to the fact. _

He moved silently towards the door when he turned back towards Bael, the dying embers glinting maliciously in his eyes.

"Oh, and Basil…" Ganondorf was pleased to note that the soldier did not even flinch at the incorrect name. "If you continue to serve me dutifully like this, there may be a promotion for general or even lord, in the future, if you live that long of course."

With an evil smile, he turned and walked out the door, cape swishing behind him. Now, it was time to put the final piece into place."  
______________________________________________________________________________

From atop the podium built in the center of town, Zelda stood tall and proud, fully aware of the villager's eyes staring at her. She couldn't blame them, when the word had spread that the princess herself was dressed in white and was standing in the center of the town, everyone had quickly gathered to see if the rumor was true. The cold still bit thorough her though, and the white dress wasn't doing much for holding in warmth with the thin material. The wind wasn't helping either, her unbound hair flapping in her face; she was continually brushing it back.

_Whose ever idea it was to have your hair free to be the picture of virginity and purity better be burning in the afterlife. _After brushing back her hair for what felt like the hundredth time, she resisted the urge to rub her arms. _Oh well, _she thought sullenly, _at least it isn't snowing._

Zelda turned her head quickly to the sounds of trumpets blaring, a sound reserved only for announcing the king. The crowd parted so Ganon pass through, not out of respect she noticed, but out of fear. Fear of him and the entourage of Moblins carrying the Gerudo flag behind him, not out of respect. Zelda noticed with distaste that the crown reserved for the true King of Hyrule was still on his brow, a proud and smug grin on his face. Zelda did begin to draw the traces of a smile though when her people had begun to boo at the false king.

Despite the jeers from the townspeople, the smug smile was still on his face, and Zelda noticed the fur-lined cloak he wore, suddenly jealous of its warmth. A sudden gust of strong wind once again blew her hair into her face but she refused let it show that the elements bothered her. Still, she couldn't help but stare when Ganondorf gaped at her free flowing hair in surprise. Not sure how to react, she unconsciously brushed her hair back behind her ears. Suddenly, he smiled, as if amused by her, and she bristled in anger, turning her back towards him.

Smirking, Ganon turned towards the heckling crowd and raised his arms. Zelda had hoped that her subjects would continue to jeer at the man but was disappointed when they began to quiet done, afraid of what he might do to them if they didn't. Opening his mouth, Ganondorf let forth a strew of words that Zelda didn't know someone of such evil was capable of. Amazed, she watched entranced.

"People of Hyrule, I know of your hatred to me and it is not completely unfounded. For generations my ancestors have attacked the royal family but it is not for the reasons you believe. You believe that we only wish for the princess' piece of the Triforce so we may take over the land. That is not true. We have only come to stop these people from exploiting your needs. They have no right to be favored as such by the great goddesses. The wisdom she has been granted is used for but her own gain. She uses the Goron's in the mountains as a source of free slave labor; they mine diamonds and other riches for her, to be used in her jewelry. The Zora's water has become polluted for ages thanks to the cannon that was placed there simply for tourist attraction, spitting gun powder into their once clean water and poisoning their lungs.

"And what about my tribe, we used to be the royal families most trusted guardians, even before the Shiekah's took our place, but we began to warn them when their desire for more power made corrupted them. So how did they repay us for our generations of protection? The cast us out into the Gerudo desert without any necessities to defend for ourselves against the blistering heat and scorching winds, the winds that gave us no end of trouble day and night.

"So here you are, the poor working with their noses in the mud to gain even a scrap of food or a single green rupee to support your family while the royals sit inside warm castle, growing fat on roasted duck and lazing around with the money you make for them. The family should end now, and your deeply beloved princess that you see here before you will be the last of her family to ever rule this magnificent kingdom."

Zelda couldn't move, she was so much in shock, she couldn't even speak. All of what her captor had announced had been lies. The Goron's were paid daily for their work and were treated well for the labor they offered. As for the cannon, it was filled with a type of material that dissolved as soon as it hit the waters of Lake Hylia. The Zora's even said that it helped to fertilize the lake bottom. It was true though that the Gerudo's had once been her families guardians eons ago but had been evicted because the leader had tried to assassinate the king and take the throne.

What had shocked her most though had not been the pack of lies coming from this man's mouth but the cheering that had come from his false speech, and the people were taking her lack of speech as a sign that everything Ganondorf had said was true. Currently, the people were screaming for exile, imprisonment, or for her to work on a farm for the rest of her days. All were cheering that is except for an aged couple, whom she recognized as Link's parents staring in horror at the events proceeding before them. Their two younger children were cheering with the others as well, although they didn't know why. Zelda squirmed under her peoples hateful glares when Ganondorf began to speak again.

"Don't worry, I can promise you that justice will be served, and sooner than you may think. You can all see that your princess is dressed an dress of the purest white, but not for the reasons you think. I could never lower myself to taint the honored Gerudo blood with this so-called blue blood."

Zelda furrowed her eyebrows in though. _What in Hyrule does he mean?_

"To end the flow of royal blood that runs through her family, through her veins, I will perform a sacred ritual done by only those of true Gerudo heritage. I can promise you this, no one named Zelda and shares the royal families bloodline will ever retake the throne.

"Princess, come and stand before your people in front of me as the last Princess Zelda."

Unsure of Ganon's true actions, Zelda walked cautiously and stood tall before her people, they staring back just as confused as she was.

"Your family has long lived as rulers but that time has now ended. It is time; a new ruler shall be chosen to lead this land to greatness. The land that the great goddesses Nayru of the Wisdom, Din of the Power, and Farore of the Courage meant it to be. To do this a sacrifice must be made, the drop of blood of the former ruler must be given to create this land anew. With this blade, blood will be drawn and stain the earth, becoming the foundation of a new, more powerful empire.

"And for a land as large and prosperous as Hyrule, not a drop will suffice, but a gallon."

Zelda slowly that the words sink I with dread. She wasn't going to be married, she was to be a sacrifice. _I'm not wearing a white wedding gown, but a white sacrificial dress. And the gallon of blood that is needed then…_

All thoughts left her mind when a sudden feeling of coldness, colder than anything she had ever felt before, took her over. Coughing, she felt a trickle of blood run from the corner of her mouth. Lowering her head slowly, she took in a sword covered in blood, her blood, jutting out from her stomach. Not a sound was heard, even the wind seemed to quiet in shock, until Ganondorf pulled the sword from her stomach with a sickening lurch.

Gasping for air, Zelda fell to her knees, staining the once white silk red. Her vision blurred from loss of blood, her once clean hands now red as she tried to hold the blood in. Slowly, she felt what she thought was rain run down her cheeks before realizing that it was actually a mixture of her tears and freshly falling snow. Amidst the muted screams of the people, she fell onto the blanket of snow, almost invisible with the once white dress.

Groggily she fought to keep her eyes open, but it was a losing battle. Unconsciousness was quickly winning her over. The battle lost, she closed her eyes, the last sounds she heard being her people screaming in horror and Ganondorf's maniacal laughter vibrating through her ears.

_Oh Link, why didn't you come? All hope is lost, you are too late._

To the horror of the townspeople around her, their princess stopped moving. The last thing she ever felt being the snow that melted on her face.

With that, Princess Zelda, the last princess of a long line of ruler of Hyrule, died on the thirteenth day of the second month in the year of the Goron. On this day, so remembered in the minds of scholars everywhere, the Era of Prosperity ended, replaced by Ganondorf's new reign, henceforth known by the people as the Era of Darkness.

**Wow. Congradulations, you've made it to the bottom. And I killed Zelda, heh heh heh. I'm sure to be getting a few hate mails for that, but I can swear to you that it was needed to develop the storyline. For those of you who stick around, I can swear that the next chapter won't be nearly this long. It was about 10 pages in my notebook while this chapter itself was 31. Seeing as the next chapter was all planned out an written, it should be up here in a couple of days, but knowing my updating habits, I'm not making any promises. **

**Also, I'm not sure, but would this chapter be considered M? Someone skilled in this please send me a response so I may know to fix this or not. Thank you.**


	2. Farore's Blessing

_12 years before preset time_

In a large log cabin located in the forests of southern Hyrule, the man paced fitfully across the floor. Often he stopped for moments in front of the bedroom door, hand resting on the knob before returning to his pacing.

"She's quite alright Kian; Alazne is a strong young woman. She can handle herself and if you don't stop soon you will wear a trench in the middle of your living room floor."

Slowly, Kian halted his walk, and turned to the older woman behind him, rocking in her rocking chair. Worried, he ran his fingers through brown hair.

"I know that Mother, that's the reason I married her in the first place, but how could she go through that? Alazne sounded like she was going to die! And now, I haven't heard a word coming out of there for the last hour."

Sighing amused at Kian's frantic face, she halted her rocking and gestured for him to come closer. After standing in the middle of the room undecided for a couple of moments, he finally obeyed and let her tenderly rest her hand on his arm.

"I am not going to lie. She just went through the worst pain a woman can ever have but, in the end, it is well worth it. The sight of a newly born babe in your arms will melt even the coldest heart and the pain will seem all but a faint memory, at least for the moment. I should know, I gave birth to and raised your grandmother, as well as raised your father and his twelve siblings. Not to mention I raised you also."

Kian smiled at his grandmother's words, she had definitely been around for a long time, but grimaced when he again imagined the screams that had gone through the door.

"I still feel bad for her though. It's my fault this all had happened in the first place."

The old woman glared at Kian and shook a deeply wrinkled finger at him. "Don't you say that, it just as much her choice as it was yours, and you both wanted a child to carry on the family name."

Although he had originally shrunk under her gaze, Kian straightened and stared hatefully at the door that had been separating him from his labouring wife. "The rules that say a man can't enter the room when a woman is giving birth are outdated. I am her husband and the child's father, I should be able to go in and see how she is doing."

Ignoring any further words from the woman in the rocking chair, he walked determinedly to the bedroom door, only to have it opened before he could reach it. In the opened door stood Rina with her hands on her hips and strands of the normally tightly bun steel gray hair hanging down her face. She had been Kian's tutor and nanny since he had been a child and hadn't seen her in years.

"You can enter the room now. She's just resting although I'm surprised your racket didn't wake her up from much needed rest. Only Nayru herself would know why she isn't in a coma or worse with the difficult birth she just went through. Neither one of the babes seemed to be able to decide who should come first."

Relieved, Kian smiled gratefully that his wife was alright but quickly adopted a confused look. "Wait, did you just say babes, as in babies? I thought we were going to only have one?"

"Farore herself has gifted both you and Alazne with twins, congratulations." Annoyed now, she turned to the elderly grandmother in the corner. "Ulima, your grandson seems to be just as dull-witted and impatient as I remember him."

Ulima laughed, a deep, crackling sound that soon turned into a fit of coughing. Concerned, Rina lay a hand down on her shoulder in an effort to calm her down. Kian also glanced worriedly towards the women but instead saw what he had missed on Rina before, a normally clean apron covered in blood, and a lot of it.

Deciding that Rina held the situation well in hand, he entered the nursery where Alazne lay currently resting on the bed, her sister sponging her forehead with a damp towel.

"How is she Naiara?"

Naiara continued to sponge her sister's head. "Good, or as good as she'll ever be though. The boys had problems deciding on who should be born first so it was a difficult delivery. Ne lost a lot of blood, it's a miracle in and of its self that she didn't die. I guess Farore, patron of life that she is, was watching over more than just the birth. Sadly, though, she will never truly recover from the ordeal."

Suddenly tired, Kian sank into the other chair across from the bed. He couldn't believe it, he had been so close to losing her. _All because of some indecisive boys and... wait, boys?_

"You said boys Naiara, I thought Alazne was going to have a girl?"

Naiara brushed blonde bangs from her eyes as she shook her head. "Nope, sorry to disappoint you Kian, but you were given a couple of twin boys instead."

"I'm not disappointed, just… surprised. The doctor in town said it was to be a girl."

"The doctor's a quack anyways. The only one who got the gender right was Ulima."

"Despite her age, your grandmother still lives up to her name Kian."

At the unexpected extra voice, both Naiara and Kian looked down at Alazne, who despite her exhaustion was smiling faintly. Relieved that his wife alright, Kian walked over and took his wife's hand in his, rubbing his thumb affectionately across the back. Smiling, he brushed the sweat-soaked bangs out of her face. Returning the smile, Alazne turned to her sister.

"How are the boys Naiara?"

"They're both peacefully sleeping Ne, just like you should be."

Despite her sister's calming tone, Alazne tried to leave the bed only to fall back down wearily.

"You have to stay in bed, doctor's orders."

"And whom may I ask orders would that be?"

"Rina's of course, periodic bed rest for her favourite patient."

Alazne glowered at her sister before lying tiredly against her pillows. "I'm her only patient, but I guess there's no arguing with Rina is there?" Smiling softly, she turned to Kian. "I wish to see my boys, our boys, Kian. Can you get them for me?"

Giving his wife's hand one last squeeze, he looked behind Naiara and noticed a crib that the boys were sleeping in. He had been so concerned with Alazne's condition that Kian hadn't noticed it till now. Rising to his feet, he walked over and looked at the two peacefully sleeping boys. Suddenly the one on the right opened a pair of deep brown eyes and stared back, entranced at the man in front of him.

Kian smiled broadly back at his son as he reached in to grab them. Slowly, he rubbed his hand over his son's head, the baby still staring curiously back at him. A cry distracted Kian from the peaceful moment and he turned to look at the other baby. To his horror, he saw the other boy squirm before letting out a long wail. Sooner than the new dad expected, the young boy had let out a full tantrum, face turning bright red with the effort.

Kian shifted uncomfortably, as the youngest of his siblings he had never dealt with a crying child before and was unsure of how to handle it. Acting on instinct, Kian slowly picked up the boy and began to rock him, hoping it would end his crying. To his relief though, the other twin was still silent.

"Come on son, your father's here. There's nothing to cry about."

Rina's curt voice cut in. "You're rocking him too fast; it's upsetting him even more. Despite being a father, you still have no idea how to act around an upset child."

Shocked at the intrusion, Kian turned to look at the sour-faced Rina and the amused Ulima. Both Naiara and Alazne looked calmly on at the older women as Rina slowly let Ulima down in the seat Kian had previously been occupying.

"Hand the child over to me; I'll calm him down for you."

Nodding, secretly glad to be rid of his wailing son, he walked over and carefully placed the boy into Ulima's waiting arms. Remembering the other boy, the much quieter boy, he quickly reached in and pulled out him out.

Turning, he stopped and stared at Ulima who had started to hum a tune to the still howling boy in her arms. Rocking him gently, she began to sing.

_Up above  
Up above  
The Wind Fish flies  
Like a dream  
He soars, through the skies_

_Known as the dreamer  
He can make our dreams come true  
With his powers so great, so great  
Trust in him_

_With his powers  
With his powers  
He can grant your wish  
But only one  
To those who are worthy_

_Up atop Tamarach  
In his egg he sleeps to await  
The one he deems worthy, worthy  
To awake him_

_Go to sleep  
Little one  
He will guide you  
And your dreams  
From the creature Nightmare_

_With his wings he will  
Shield you all from evil  
In the world and your dreams, your dreams  
Sleep peacefully_

By the end of Ulima's song, all in the room gazed at her in awe, all but the two now sleeping babies. With a wrinkled smile, she brushed an aged hand softly across the boy's blonde peach fuzz of hair.

Smiling at his aging grandmother, Kian silently handed his son to Alazne, the boy's brown eyes now closed in slumber. His arms now empty; he now realized with a start his previous words to the once howling boy. _Father, I really am a father._

"What was that song? It was beautiful." With a start, Kian turned to Naiara, forgetting that she had been in the room. She was leaning forward over the bed now, hazel eyes shining with wonder at Ulima.

Ulima chuckled softly at the question. "Oh that? It's just a song that my great-grandfather had taught to my mother. He said that is was a song he had learnt on his travels long ago. He had had been so proud to finally have a girl born in the family that he had named her Marin, after the girl who had taught him the song so many years ago. Although it was originally used to awaken those sleeping, it can also be used for putting them to sleep. You just have to change the last two stanzas."

"What was it called?" Alazne asked.

"It was well-known on the island where I was born by its nickname, the _Song of Awakening_." Ulima's voice soon dropped down to a whisper. "My mother said though that its true name is _Ballad of the Wind Fish_."

At the name, Kian began to remember instances as a child where Ulima had sang the song to him after he had had a nightmare. He couldn't be sure, but he felt as if after the song was sung, he had not had another nightmare for the rest of the night.

"So Ne, have you thought of any names for the boys yet?" Naiara asked her sister, breaking Kian's thoughts,

Alazne smiled as she looked down at the sleeping boy in her arms. "Yes, the eldest will be Gareth." She said gesturing down at the boy in her arms. "The youngest though, shall be Bryne."

Alazne looked up at her husband, looking to see if the names were fine with him. In response, Kian knelt down and tenderly kissed his wife on the forehead.

"They're great," he declared finally.

"No."

Stunned, everyone turned to look at the speaker, seeing fierceness in her gray eyes that hadn't been seen in years. Frowning, Rina looked down at Ulima, hands on her hips.

"Now Ulima," she explained gently. "Both the boys are Kian and Alazne's. It's their choice what they want to name them and Gareth and Bryne are fine names."

Refusing to back down, Ulima scoffed at the housekeeper. "Oh please, I've raised almost two dozen children since birth and I know what good names are. Now Gareth is a perfectly fine name but the little one here needs a different one."

"Well then Mother, what would you name him?" Naiara asked curiously.

The fierceness gone from her eyes, Ulima gazed sweetly down at the young boy sleeping peacefully in her arms, oblivious to the argument going on around him. Smiling, she held the boy's tiny hand in her own wrinkled one. "Koble," she finally answered. "His name should be Koble."

A pregnant silence filled the room. For minutes no one spoke, shocked at the grandmother's words. Finally, Kian spoke, his voice shaking.

"B-b-but Mother, the name, it is-it is illegal. Even speaking in the old language is treason enough."

"As gut-livered as the boy is," Rina continued, ignoring the glare Kian sent her way, "he is right. To name the baby something like that is, is idiotic. The child will never be able to live a normal life."

Hard as stone once again, Ulima bristled under their fire. "I did not teach you the ancient language only to be told that it is illegal. You didn't seem to care about the law when I taught you it almost twenty years ago, and now you object? Anyways, I believe that the boy will live up to the name. Goddesses know who much…"

"It's perfect."

Kian and Rina looked at Alazne shocked, while Ulima seemed to glow, a proud smug smile on her face. The two too stunned to speak, her sister spoke the objections on their mind.

"But Ne, are you sure?" Naiara asked incredulous. "You know that Kian and Rina are right, he will lead a troubled life."

Ignoring her sister, Alazne turned and spoke to her silenced housekeeper. "Rina, bring him to me," she ordered, all traces of exhaustion seeming to have left her. Without a word, Rina received the other twin from Ulima and handed him to his mother. Carefully, Alazne shifted the sleeping boy already in her arms and received the younger and laid them so she held one child in the nook of each arm, smiling fondly down at her sons. Managing to tear her eyes away, she stared down her husband.

"I understand perfectly well the repercussions of naming our son Koble," she firmly declared, "but, I do believe he will indeed live up to the name chosen. And really, name or no name, he is still our son."

Kian didn't move for a moment, thinking over what his wife said. Finally, he nodded. "You're right, and if this is what you really want, than his name will be Koble."

"It is."

Rina simply looked at them as if they had turned into Goron's before her very eyes. "You're crazy," she said. "You're all crazy. You will cause quite the ruckus down at the castle when you go to get the birth certificates for the boys. You will be hanged. But they're your children, who am I to object to what you name them?"

For once standing tall, Kian looked at the women who had helped raise him his whole life. "That is why we won't sign his name. We will simply tell them that the other child died at birth, leaving only Gareth here. He will be a secret, growing up knowing that he is different but he will not know of his true name until the time is right. He will know though that we are his parents, which is all a child really needs to grow up well in the end."

Finally, she nodded in obedience. "Although I still don't think that what you are doing is right, I can promise you that I won't tell a single soul about him. No matter his name, the boy still needs at least a semi-normal life and someone to teach him his mathematics."

Softly, Alazne smiled. "Thank you," she whispered.

From her seat next to the bed, Naiara smiled down at the two newly named twins. "Gareth, Koble, it's time to wake up and meet your new family."

**Well, the first actual chapter was quicker to get up then I expected. And as you can tell, it was majorly shorter when compared to the prologue. Comparing them though, this one isn't nearly as exciting but it's mainly introducing a couple of the main characters. The pace will probably pick up within the next couple of chapters. On a totally separate topic, if you play the song **_**Ballad of the Wind Fish**_**, the tune actually goes with the lyrics. Yay! I know its not that great, certainly not Juno winning that's for sure, but tell me what you thought. **

**And guess what! I'm going to try a new system, updating every Friday and Monday but we'll see how it works. The second chapter is only about 3/4 finished in my book though. And for those wondering, the term 'Mother' that is used by some characters is simply a word of respect; it by no means implies any relationship by Kian, Alazne, and Naiara; aside from marriage of course.**


	3. The Forest's Gift

**Ok wow, this really took longer to post than I thought it would. You can all thank _TwilightQueenMidna_ for this next chapter. If she hadn't sent me a review I probably would have kept on forgetting that this chapter had actually been on my computer completed for a few months. So, thanks hun! I make no promises on next update though, it might take a few days, weeks, or even a month or two. So enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Although I do not own the Legend of Zelda series, that belongs to the genius that is Shigeru Miyamoto. I do on the other hand, actually own not only this timeline but the characters as well! Woo!  
**

"Koby! Koby!"

In a fairly secluded valley, at the base of a large grassy hill, Koble turned his attention away the three small silver fish that were swimming around his ankles. Although the small, clear flowing creek bubbled merrily across the smooth stones, he ignored it, instead turning to look at the young girl come running down the hill, her dress bunched up her knees. He smiled amused at the sight of his sister before standing, the fish scurrying off in surprise, and steeping onto the dry grassy bank to greet her.

Finally reaching him, Sari dropped the edges of her green dress and rested her hands her knees and breathed deeply, clearly exhausted from the run. Straightening, she looked at her older brother, mirth evident in her blue eyes.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you. You can be practically impossible to find sometimes, you do know that right? Well, it doesn't matter. What does matter is the fact that we were supposed to leave for auntie's grave hours ago!"

At the realization of her words, Koble's smile fell and in embarrassment, he turned sullenly to the creek, the small fish now long gone. All that was left was the bright afternoon sun reflecting off of the clear water like diamonds.

Sari sighed. "You forgot didn't you Koby?"

Solemnly, he nodded.

"Well, at least that would explain why you weren't home. Mama and Papa got so tired of waiting for you that they left with Gary, sending me instead to find your sorry butt and drag you there. And well, now that I found you we can go. Mama is not gonna be pleased though when she sees what you did to your pants. At least you thought to roll them up before going in the water though."

Although still upset that he had forgotten today's anniversary, he managed a small smile, cheeks pink with embarrassment. Ignoring the smile, she impatiently brushed off his pants were a collection of dry grass and dirt had gathered. Waving off her hands, he rolled down his pants before putting on his own shoes but before he could move in any direction, Sari grabbed his arm with both of her hands.

"Wait, before we go, I want your quick opinion. What do you think?"

With that, she gave a quick sort of twirl, her green dress fanning out around her. Studying her carefully, Koble noticed that her normally straight shoulder length brown hair had been pulled to the nape of her neck and given light curls. A clasp seemed to hold her hair back but he couldn't get a good look at it because of her twirl, and later her fall.

He raised his eyebrows amused at his normally balanced sister's fall. He guessed that because she was so used to running around in Gareth's old tunic and pants that she was unused to the weight that the dress added. Thanks to her impatient spin, she had fallen rather ungracefully to the ground and was currently somehow managing to glare at both him and her dress at the same time, her look to him suggesting that if he so much as smiled, he was done for.

Stepping back and hands in front, he helped her up as a peace offering of sorts, his own blue eyes smiling as she grumbled about the uselessness of dresses. Huffing as she stood and brushing herself off, she continued to glare at him.

"Not one word to Gary or I swear you will lose more than just your voice when I'm done with you. "

Koble smirked amused at her, he wouldn't be able to tell their brother what had just transpired, he hadn't been able to speak since before Sari had been born.

"Oh you know what I mean. I swear, I don't know how you manage it but just your expressions say more than words.

"Now tell me the truth, what do you think?"

Koble responded with a simple gesture, his hands making the rough shape of a woman's figure.

_You look nice._

Sari scoffed. "Are you kidding me, this dress is hot and itchy and extremely uncomfortable. I have no idea how Mama manages to survive with wearing one of these everyday, I can barely stand it and I've only been wearing it for a little over an hour! " Sari shrugged. "Meh, but at least your nice about it. Gary almost fell on the floor laughing when he saw me. So I gave him a punch in the nose."

Trying unsuccessfully to hide his smile, he started to lecture his sister in his own way, hands on his hips and a finger wagging as he looked down at her, it was obvious what message he was trying to send her.

_Now Sari, that is not how a dignified young lady like yourself is to behave._

His smile broke through at the almost appalled look his sister sent his way. A large grin on his face, he touched his nose before looking as is he was trying to break seemingly invisible sticks in his hands.

_Did you break his nose?_

"No, kinda wished I did though. I only made it bleed a little, it'll only be sore for a couple hours at most but that'll be it. I wouldn't dare break his nose a week before his birthday though," she replied with a shrug, she let an evil grin out soon afterwards. "I'll break then."

_Did you get in any trouble?_

"Yeah, but not much, my punishment was to go and find you. I think Papa was trying hard not to laugh. Sari gave a small sigh. "I almost lost this thanks to Gary though."

Turing her back to Koble, she pointed to the clasp that he had seen holding her hair back. Now though, upon closer inspection he could see that it wasn't as simple as he thought it was. It looked like it cost a small fortune, enough to buy their farm and then some. The clasp was small and made of what looked like pure silver, and not just cheap plating either. In the middle of the silver was an oval blue stone about the size of a wooden button. Scattered around the blue stone were various smaller red and green stones.

"Mama said that she got it from her dad when she was about my age. He said it was always passed down to the eldest daughter when she turned eleven, about the time that old princesses of Hyrule had had their coronations from lady into princess. But because Mama and Auntie were twins, they were both given it to share. So Mama was none too happy when I punched Gary. She even threatened to take it back, said I wasn't mature enough to have it. She relented though, although she said that she would actually take it back unless I was gone in ten seconds to find you. So I booked it. Now you know that I hate girly things like this, but I thought it was nice to look at and made me feel important."

Before Koble could respond, Sari looked up at the sun and swore under her breath at the position of the sun; it was almost to the top of the trees in the wood. Koble could only gaze on interested at the word that had exited her mouth. Sari huffed at his expression.

"Oh, don't give me that look Koby. You know that Gary's mouth is way filthier than mine will ever be, and you know I don't give a darn if it isn't lady-like to curse or not.

"Now come on, I really mean it this time. If we don't hurry we will be late and we will both never hear the end of this from Gary. If we run, we can make it though."

With a grin that could only mean one thing to his sister, Koble took off at a run towards the wood, the quickest shortcut available to them at the moment. Behind him he could hear Sari's yell as she ran to catch up.

"Hey! That's no fair and you know it! You got a head start ya cheater!"

Minutes later, Koble rest gasping, leaning on a large redwood while he caught his breath. Not far behind him he could hear Sari desperately trying to catch up. Her words brought a smile to his face, she was, as their father would say, swearing like a soldier. He was actually amused, he was fairly certain that even Gareth didn't know half the words being said. He couldn't help but wince though when he heard the sound of a smack, particularly the one of a fairly large stick swinging back to someone's face. It had sounded like it had hurt and her even louder curse certainly backed up that fact.

Shrugging, he decided to wait for his sister. Normally Koble would have continued on after his breather, he was winning after all, but decided to be nice, Sari did spend most of the afternoon looking for him after all. She was getting closer so he wouldn't have to wait much longer anyway, if her noisy advances meant anything it was that she was only a couple of meters away to his right, it would only take another couple of minutes till she reached him.

In the mean time, he could enjoy the forest around him.

He looked skyward to the leafy treetops, where the falling sun's rays cast small beams of light through the scattered patches in the leaves, piercing the dark shadows around him. Small white butterflies circled around a few of the beams, drinking nectar from the very few patches of colourful flowers that tried to soak in as much as the fading light as possible. To his left, Koble's ears perked to the small rustle of bushes only a couple of feet away. He quickly turned to the source of the noise, watching a quick flash of yellow as the creature disappeared into a hole it had evidently burrowed. At the yellow, Koble had once yet again begun to wonder if the fabled Keaton really did exist or if it was nothing more but a children's fairy tale. Koble's mind quickly decided that children's tales were just that, tales for small children. It must have just been the lack of light playing tricks on his eyes and had just been an aging fox retreating into its home.

The feel of the light wind's breeze caused his eyes to close in bliss. Even as a child he had always loved the wind. Both the destruction and calmness it seemed to cause with the same breath. He loved how the wind could cause their old apple tree when it had filled with their white blossom's to scatter on its breeze in a beautiful blanket across the sky. He loved it when the wind began to pick up its pace seemingly randomly and begin to bend trees almost in half with its strong arms. He understood that the wind was a dangerous element; it had no master and could never be bent to a person's will. No matter how hard you would try to capture it, it would just never allow itself to be caught.

Koble shrank blissfully against the wind's harmless breeze. It even seemed to somehow understand him, brushing across his cheek like a fading kiss and tousling his hair with its non-existent fingers. Feeling a cold tinge on his cheek from where the wind had brushed him, he sighed peacefully. Absolutely nothing could ruin this moment.

"I. Absolutely. Hate. DRESSES!"

Except that.

Sari's rather unmelodic screech raked painfully across his ears. Disappointed that his peace was ruined he casually opened only his left eye and looked at his sister's rather dishevelled appearance. Her once neat light brown hair was now a tangled mess filled with stray twigs and leaves, and what even looked like a stray spider, his webbed home taken away with the vengeance that was Hurricane Sari. Miraculously, her dress was clean of any scratches or mud that accompanied its wearer. Even the hair clip was still in her hair, albeit a little crooked compared to how it had been only half an hour ago. He couldn't help it. Although he knew that murder was more than likely in his future tonight, he smiled.

Sari obviously did not take it well.

"Don't you dare give me that look Koble Bryne Pinelm. I promise that I will not hesitate to make you look just as bad if not worse."

Oh, he could tell she was mad at him now. She never used his actual first name, much less his full name.

"But I don't dare to disrespect Auntie on her death-day; Farore only knows what will happen to me. So your extra lucky today, not only will you survive to live another day, but you're a guy so you don't have to wear stupid movement constricting dresses like this."

"Aww come on sis, don't be like that, it's not my fault that you were born as a weak and dainty little female."

Sari froze, looking at Koble stunned before groaning. An evil smile taking hold of her lips, she slowly knelt down and picked up a small acorn that rest just beyond her foot. Koble briefly wondered if the squirrel or chipmunk that had most likely dropped it lived in the redwood he was leaning on as he watched the nut sail in a straight line towards a fairly leafy bush on his right. He looked at his sister impressed when a short cry of pain sounded from behind the bush.

Seconds later, Gareth emerged from the leafy green shrub, gingerly rubbing a small red mark in the center of his forehead where the small brown projectile had hit him.

"Who's weak and dainty now Gary?"

Gareth frowned.

"I mean, I'm not the one crying to Mama after being hit in the head with squirrel food."

"Alright alright! I'm sorry. There, happy?"

Sari huffed angrily. "You better be, but no. That was a mean trick and thinking I would fall for it? Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"Hey, you're the one who fell for it the first time. You almost went crying to Dad after all," Gareth switched to an extremely high pitched imitation of his sister's voice. "'Hurry Papa! Koby's speaking again! It finally happened! It must be a gift from Auntie and the goddesses themselves! Hurry Papa!' Oh wow, I almost fell to the ground laughing after that!"

Sari felt an angry blush beginning to rise. "I do not sound like that!" she exclaimed. "And that was years ago! I am much too old to fall for such childish pranks!"

"It was just last week you liar! Just wait till the others hear about this!"

Sari looked aghast but quickly responded and glared at her brother, a twinkle shining in her eye. "You do and I will tell everyone how you screamed like a little girl when Koby and I planted that garter snake in your bed just last night!"

Koble waved his hands frantically in front of his face, the meaning clear.

_Hey, leave me out of this!_

"You wouldn't dare!"

Sari grinned at Gareth's blanched face. "Oh I dare, trust me, I dare."

Gareth glared down at his sister who despite the height difference glared right back. With her hands on her hips and stray twigs and scratches on her face making her look more fearsome, the height difference seemed to shrink. Koble could only stare at wonder at the differences between him and his twin, made all the more evident by Gareth's towering height over Sari. He was barely taller than Sari while Gareth seemed to tower over her, standing almost a full head and a half taller.

That wasn't the only difference though.

Just looking at Gareth and Koble you never would have guessed that they were brothers, much less twins. Gareth had a full head of dark red hair and had somehow managed to have his aunt's brown eyes and was covered in small, hard muscle from his weekly sword training. Koble on the other had his father's blue eyes and extremely shaggy blonde hair and was small, scrawny, and had little to no muscle at all. The only similarities they seemed to share aside from parents and family was their oddly pointed ears, and even there Koble's was just a centimetre or two longer. Gareth even carried around a sheathed dagger at his side, though this was normally for show and not used much offensively.

"Fine, you win. Happy?"

Sari smiled smugly back. "Yes, now come one Koby, we're going to be late with the idiot here stalling us with his extremely idiotic actions."

"Who are you calling an idiot? You know what things live in here, Hyrule's clumsiest Wolfos could have stalked you and you wouldn't have been able to hear its crashing through the bushes over your loud and obnoxious cursing. How did you think I found you anyways?"

Koble noticed Sari pale and her eyes droop at their brother's words. He had been telling the truth, both of them could have easily have been attacked or worse, and thanks to Sari's noise, they never would have been able to hear the monster advancing on them until it was too late. It was lucky that it was only late afternoon, so none of the dangerous monsters that always hunted during the night were awake yet.

Sari had never been one to stay downcast though, her eyes soon flashing angrily at Gareth. "Oh please, the only creatures out and about are a few scattered Skullwalltulas and the odd Skulltula laying around. Neither of which are too scary or tough to fight. And a Deku Scrub? Please, they're cowards plain and simple, just the sight of my shadow would send them shrieking into their little nests."

Gareth grinned. "If they're scared of your shadow then the sight of your face would kill them on the spot."

Koble watched amused as the tips of Sari's ears (pointed like his and Gareth's) start to turn an angry red. He had noticed years ago that when she was angry her ears would light up like Din's hottest flames but when she was particularly embarrassed, the base of her neck would turn a bright pink, both of which were often caused by Gareth's hi-jinks. Therefore, it was always easy to tell when she was angry or embarrassed. This realization always brought a smile to his face; with this information any crush she would ever have was going to be absolute hell on earth for her. He knew that Gareth would never let her live it down for the rest of her life.

"Oooh, why are you such a jerk Gary."

Gareth gave a casual shrug. "It's just an older brother thing; your feeble little female mind couldn't even begin to comprehend it."

"Please try for my sake, I'll try to keep up."

"Sure, why not." Gareth straightened and took on an instructor's tone, one that someone would use in explaining something complicated. Koble noticed with some amusement that the stance and tone he was using did not fit with his brother's personality and build. All in all, it made for a very humorous scene. "Now, it's an older sibling's duty, particularly that of a brother, to bully and tease their younger siblings, in this cases you."

"But what about Koby, he's nowhere close to being mean like you are?"

"I was getting there! Gods, you should take a hint from Koble there and learn to shut up and be quiet once in a while. Now then, there are certain cases where there may be more than one older sibling, now this would normally just divide the level by half so you have two siblings with the a lesser amount of meanness as you call it and a higher amount of compassion in each person.

"Now though, every now and then certain problems will arise that may cause the other older sibling to not fulfill the desired quotient needed to uphold the balance in the universe, in this case Koble lacking the ability to speak. Thanks to this hindrance, he doesn't have the ability to come up with any good come-backs or bad puns. As such he is demoted, or promoted depending on how you look at these things, to filling the role of the lame compassionate older brother.

"This then leaves me to take not only his place in pyramid and take on the extra 'meanness' that he lacks but he also takes any 'niceness' out of me, leaving you with instead two totally different brothers. One of which still struggles to uphold the balance and is left extra mean while the other is what you would call the wimpy brother, full of sympathy and compassion and all that junk."

Sari blinked. "That made absolutely no sense at all."

"See, I told you that your feeble little mind wouldn't be able to comprehend the knowledge of the universe."

"Yeah, whatever. Like you would ever know what knowledge the universe holds. You can't even put your pants on the right way in the morning."

Gareth ignored her jibe. "Come on, let's go. I can see why you took this route; it's the shortest way to the pond but also the most difficult. You must have been crazy to go this way Sari when you knew you were wearing a dress. I knew that girls were stupider than boys."

Sari responded by shaking her fist in Gareth's face before they started off. "Hey, I wouldn't mind really breaking your nose this time Gary."

"Alright alright. Man, you really can't take a joke Sar." Gareth unconsciously rubbed his still tender, large nose. "By the way, where did you learn to swing like that? That is one powerful right hook you've got there."

Sari smiled before grabbing Koble's wrist and starting off in the direction of the pond. "Why, from you of course dear brother."

Although Koble didn't look back, he could hear his twin's sigh before hurrying past them, promising that he would look out for any danger that they might encounter. Koble heard Sari grumble angrily under her breath as she slowed down to kick a rock, most likely imagining it to be their brother's face. He rolled his eyes at the exchange between his siblings, they always had been a form of free entertainment; all he needed was a dinner most of the time to complete the experience.

Shaking his head in exasperation of his siblings' antics, he continued to walk as he raised his eyes skyward, as if asking the great goddesses up above for some help or some kind of sign that Sari and Gareth would at least start to get along one day in the future.

His quick prayer, if one could call it that, over, he lowered his eyes to the forested ground in front of him to step over some thick roots that had risen above the ground, only to stop when an arrow suddenly appeared from the corner of his vision and imbedded itself in the thick tree only centimetres from his face,

Seconds later, he felt Sari roughly crash into his back, she hadn't even realized that he had stopped. Koble heard her muttering under her breath about how utterly dimwitted her brothers were, rubbing slightly pink nose as she grumbled, she walked around him and stared in what he could only describe as a combination of shock and horror. She had actually been so surprised at the sight of the protruding arrow that her mouth was actually moving but no words were coming out, she didn't even bring out the repertoire of various curses that the nine year old had somehow managed to pick up. That was the first time Koble ever remembered that happening to his sister, it wasn't often that Sari was struck speechless.

Before Sari could even manage to speak a word, both siblings heard a slight rustle in the bushes and Gareth emerged, an annoyed look on his face.

"What's the holdup you two? We are running late you do realize that right, so what is taking you so long… Great Mallodus the Demon King! What in the Spirit World is that?"

Alarmed at the arrow that obviously hadn't been there when Gareth had passed by only seconds before, he drew the small dagger that was sheathed at his side, and although it was for show he did know how to use it whenever the need came. Holding it out in front of him as one would a small deku stick, his face was cast in the grim line, eyes scanning the bushes for the person who would dare try to shoot his brother and little sister.

Watching this, Koble knew that the search was largely futile, the archer had most likely run after letting off that bad shot, scared that they had killed him, and even if they had watched the arrow barely miss him, they wouldn't have stuck around as they had most likely heard the argument that his siblings had held, learning that despite their relatively young ages they wouldn't be scared to fight back if any of them had been hurt in any way. Gareth's mostly useless manoeuvre did have some use though, it brought back Sari's voice. Not surprisingly, the first words she said were an insult directed at him.

"Oh, what a good idea Gary! A dagger will do wonders against a crazed, blood-thirsty archer!

Although Koble sincerely doubted that the archer was neither crazed nor blood-thirsty, he knew that this was all part of the cover she portrayed when she was feeling particularly scared or frightened, she argued and became extremely snappy just like Gareth would try to take charge of the situation and show off what he considered his supreme skills to distract others. Just like he did when he had glowered at Sari for her insult only seconds ago, Gareth had gave a casual twirl of the blade in his right hand before sheathing it.

"Now come on, we should really hurry up and get out of here before the archer comes back, and next time he might not miss."

Following his own advice, Gareth set off at a fast walk, Sari not too far behind him, eager to leave the forest. Koble on the other hand, stayed behind to fully investigate the arrow that had almost taken his head off. After the initial shock had worn off he had begun to wonder if the arrow had really been that sign from the goddesses that he had asked for, he had quickly brushed the thought off though. Signs like that were supposed to save your life, not kill you on the spot.

Nonetheless, he was intrigued about the mysterious arrow and decided that he wanted to investigate the arrow closer. This in mind, he firmly braced his foot against the thick trunk of the tree and pulled as hard as he could to loosen the arrow. To his surprise though, the arrow hadn't imbedded itself in as deep as he thought so one quick tug and brought the arrow out and soon found himself laying on the forest floor, leaves and dirt falling around him in a cloud. Sitting up, he watched the sunlight reflect off the arrowhead as he heard Gareth's voice yelling at him.

"Come on, hurry up bro! The archer might come back for another shot at the Creature of the Lost Woods here!"

Koble turned to watch Sari's ears turn bright red, somehow matching the leaves and twigs in her tangled hair.

"Ooooh. Gary you are such a jerk!"

"Takes one to know one little sister."

Sari rolled her eyes. "Oh so mature Gary." Spotting a broken tree branch on the forest floor, she picked it up and seemed to test its weight by giving it a few practice swings. Deciding it to satisfactory, she turned to Gareth only to see him run off into brush. Sari watched stunned for only a moment. "He-hey! You get back here this instant Gareth Pinelm!"

Koble watched them run off, his twin laughing the whole way and Sari wildly swinging her branch over her head, with a small smile on his face. No matter the situation, they both always managed to somehow shake it off, an ability he had never been granted with.

Allowing one more glance towards the arrow clutched firmly in his left hand, he decided that he would look at the arrow in greater detail later that evening. Right now he was much too late for a very important event and didn't really feel like being left behind alone in the woods, even though night had not yet fallen their were still monsters that could and would cause a lot of problems if he was caught unawares.

So he hurried off after them at a quick jog, unconsciously jumping roots and weaving through trees as his ears followed the sound of his sister's curses carried by the wind.

**So a few of the main characters have been introduced and the action should pick up in the next few chapters hopefully so just you wait!**


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